Retro Thing

Ray gun movie cameras

Every grown-up should have a ray gun.  This was the core belief of my grade school college years.  Regretfully, my vision of the future hasn't come to pass.  I still lust after ray-gunnish things, which vitually ensured I'd buy a Super 8 movie camera the moment I stumbled across one on eBay. 

The most dangerous looking of them all is the 998 euro Beaulieu 4008, pictured to the right.  The lens is an ominously named Schneider Kreuznach zoom, and the solid metal body weighs over 5 lbs.

Best of all, it captures beautifully crisp and clear movie images.  Which is just what I need after a hard day pretending to zap martians.

Save gas, annoy people with a buzzing thing

All of a sudden, scooters are the rage.  It could have something to do with gas reaching $428 a gallon, but maybe it's just because everyone's realized how retro-cool they look riding around on sleek little whirring things.

My current crush is the new-but-old-looking LX 150 by Vespa.  It ain't cheap, but it's guaranteed to make you look like Flash Gordon's best friend.  I'm still waiting for the first Hollywood chase scene starring nothing but scooters.  And Natalie Portman. Naked.

Get your paper camera here, comrade!

As a child, I once covered all ten digits of both hands with dribbles of glue while attempting to put together a model aircraft.  Things didn't get much better with age, so my desire to glue together a working camera from cardboard will remain nothing more than an unfulfilled dream.

The Dirkon paper camera was originally published as a set of plans in Communist Czechoslovakia, presumably as an evil plan to encourage teenagers to glue themselves to tables instead of rising up in rebellion.  Recently, someone took the time to make the original instructions available on the web in Adobe Acrobat format.  This little pinhole camera accepts 35mm film and takes dreamy pictures that will look suitably pretentious in art galleries everywhere.

Digital Retro in Paperback

I'm a sucker for books.  I have dozens of unread titles lingering on the bookshelf, waiting for the spare time I never have.  It goes without saying that I want shelves more.  Digital Retro is Gordon Laing's tribute to 40 classic computing platforms.  It's  available now in paperback.  That means it'll be far cheaper than the hardcover edition, and I can't say no to a bargain.

There are more pictures than text, which is also fine by me.  Oh, how I long for the days before every computer was a Dell.  If a Timex Sinclar or NeXT cube is your secret fetish, you'll find it here.  My reading list also includes Michael Nadeau's Collectible Microcomputers and Revolution in the Valley by Apple legend Andy Herzfeld.

The weirdest used car lot in North America

Japan exists in an alternate universe where cartoon characters have eyes like dinner plates and even their socks are technologically advanced.  It should come as no surprise that they make some pretty odd cars, too. Cars so strange that they don't even try to foist them on us. 

Fortunately, some enterprising entrepreneurs in Canada have started to import a bizarre assortment of strange used vehicles direct from Japan.  They're right-hand drive, which means you'll have to think twice when pulling into a parking spot.  They're also at least 15 years old to beat Canada's import regulations, and relatively cheap, too.  I'd love to take one for a spin.  That is, until it starts making a strange grinding noise and the engine explodes.

In space, no-one can hear the TV...

Through an unfortunate geographical accident, my family didn't own a television until I was about seven years old.  When the boob tube finally arrived, I cheerfully bathed in the warm black & whiteness of the intense gamma radiation emitted by the glowing screen.  My mother warned me many times not to sit so close, lest I receive a fatal dose.

I miss those days.  Which is probably why I'm so excited that Predicta has released a line of truly tacky retro televisions.  The tubes bulge out of the cases, cheerfully flaunting their lack of lead shielded plutonium injectors.  I'm especially fond of the Meteor, pictured here, which looks like it was involved in a raunchy encounter with a NASA engineer sometime in 1957.  Apparently, these beasts are made with new-fangled solid state components and a color picture tube.  Lethal radiation not included.

Mama took my Kodachrome away...

Kodak isn't having a good year.  With sales of traditional film dropping about 15% annually, they awkwardly chose the 40th anniversary of Super 8 to discontinue Kodachrome 40.

For those who've been under a rock since 1971, K-40 is THE classic Super 8 movie film.  At the height of its popularity, Kodak sold over 19 million three-minute cartridges each year.  These days, they sell a mere 100,000 annually, but there is a vibrant and dedicated small-gauge film community built around this stuff.  A hopefully-good-enough replacement is slated for release in August, but I doubt it'll feel the same.

The Kodachrome cancellation notice first appeared on the Kodak UK site, but quickly spread across the rest of the world.  Rumor has it that Kodak will process Super 8 Kodachrome at their Swiss lab until the end of 2006.  Dwayne's Photo in Kansas (USA) has indicated they will continue to process the film as long as it remains available from Kodak in 16mm and 35mm formats.  'tis a sad day, indeed.